


Foreplay: Beginnings

by LoveThemWinchesters



Series: Foreplay [12]
Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - J2, Barista!Jared, Coffee Shop, College/Students, Emotional!Jared, First Kiss, First Meetings, M/M, Mild Language, POV Jared Padalecki, Stripper!Jensen, Strippers & Strip Clubs, emotional!Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 23:09:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9350315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveThemWinchesters/pseuds/LoveThemWinchesters
Summary: Every story has its beginning. (Jared POV)**Note: This CAN be read as a stand alone, but note that this part takes place 8 years prior toForeplayand is a huge SPOILER for it. I suggest you read that first, but you don't have to if you're not concerned about it. (Jared is 20 and Jensen is 24.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally gotten the beginning of these two written. I hope you like it and that it stands up to the rest of the series. Drop me a comment at the end to let me know what you think! <3  
>  
> 
> A huge thank you to [RiatheMai](http://archiveofourown.org/users/RiatheMai/pseuds/RiatheMai) for the quick beta-ing. You helped me through a few rough spots.

 

 

**_Tuesday, September 17, 2002_ **

 

Jared’s sneakered feet squeaked loudly on the tiled floor as he rushed through the back entrance of Brewed Awakening. His momentum sent the door ricocheting off the wall behind him and he cringed as he snagged a clean apron off the top of the stack of freshly laundered linen on the counter. He quickly pulled it over his head and tied it at his back; the bow was probably more of a chaotic knot than anything, but he’d deal with it later. He was late… again. And it was all Chad’s goddamned fault as usual.

He still had no idea how he and his best friend had ended up on the floor in the lecture hall in a wild tangle of limbs, Jared’s notes, pens, and books scattered in a million different directions as well as Chad’s, but he had a pretty good idea: Sophia… Chad’s latest crush. His friend had been eyeing the petite brunette across the lecture hall throughout the entire class. Sometimes Jared wondered if Chad ever used anything but his downstairs brain.

What made matters worse was Danni had given Jared the extra hours this semester because he’d quite literally gotten down on his knees and begged her for them almost as soon as he’d arrived from San Antonio and gotten his things unpacked. The Padalecki family might be fairly well-known in the great state of Texas, could’ve even paid for all of Jared’s schooling and the expenses that came with it without batting an eye, but Jared had insisted on doing this on his own. (He might have refused their parental benevolence, but he still got a small monthly stipend upon his mother’s insistence—she’d proven to be more stubborn than Jared for once in this case.) Even with the “allowance,” fifteen hours a week at minimum wage wasn’t going to last long now that he and Chad had their own place this year.

Jared didn’t want to think about the fact that he had five more years to go; that master’s in business seemed infinitely far away. For now, he would take it one year at a time and try not to stress about it. Ramen noodles weren’t so bad.

Someone cleared their throat and Jared froze. He knew who it was before he even saw them. He turned to see Danni leaning against the counter, auburn hair swept up in a loose ponytail. Her left eyebrow was arched and her arms were crossed over her chest.

“You’re lucky you’re so damn cute, Jay.”

“I know. Sorry,” Jared apologized. “What do you need me to do?” He did a quick scan of the shop looking for something that needed tending to: counters to be wiped down, dishes that needed washing…

“Americano. No frills. And bring it out to table four.” She turned on her heel, but not before Jared saw a smirk on her face. “Pronto,” Danni called over her shoulder as she headed back over to the register where there was a small number of people waiting to put in their carry-out orders.

Jared went over to the sink and washed his hands. He dried them off on a bar towel before heading over to the espresso machine where he pulled two shots of espresso into a glass. He reached under the counter to retrieve a clean mug (a turquoise one) from the rack below and filled it with hot water before pouring the espresso into it. Once the drink was ready, Jared grabbed a saucer and headed out to table four being careful not to spill it.

The table and its customer were tucked away in a quiet corner of the shop, away from the constant flow of traffic and the distractions it could bring with it. (It was one of several such tables that catered to students who were looking for somewhere besides the campus library to study… or anyone else who wanted to have a little peace and quiet with their coffee.) Classic literature, mostly in the form of donations, lined the walls of the nook giving it a cozy, home-like feel. In Jared’s opinion, all that it was missing was a big, comfy chair. The customer seemed deep in thought, not noticing Jared’s approach.

Jared had started working at Brewed Awakening in the middle of the spring semester almost six months ago. He knew most of its patrons, if not by their actual name, then at least by face. But with the turn of a new school year, people’s schedules changed and fresh faces popped up. This was certainly a face he hadn’t seen before.

The guy, who was surrounded by textbooks and an assortment of notebooks and was chewing on the end of his pen, had dirty-blond hair that was messy, but in that perfectly stylized way that Jared could never achieve. His broad shoulders stretched against the material of his olive-colored Henley and when he looked up from the book he’d been engrossed in, moss-green eyes met Jared’s through wire-rimmed glasses.

The first thing Jared noticed aside from the guy’s gorgeous eyes was the freckles… lots of them. And then his eyes fell down to the thick, pouty lips that—

Jared nearly spilled the drink in his hand. He reined in his X-rated thoughts and cleared his throat.

“Uh… Americano?” he offered ever so eloquently.

Without waiting for an answer, he set the saucer and mug down on one of the only clear spots on the table and turned on his heel nearly bolting back behind the counter.

If this was Danni’s way of getting back at him for being late…

He scowled at her as he walked by.

She winked and grinned.

 

~+~

 

“You need to stop trying to set me up with random people,” Jared growled before taking a sip of his caramel macchiato.

He was on break and the hot guy at table four had just left no more than five minutes ago after having been there for most of the first half of Jared’s six hour shift.

Danneel finished wiping down the side counter with a rag and turned to Jared, delicate hand on her hip. She blew the few strands of bangs that had gotten loose from her ponytail out of her face.

“I was doing no such thing.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “Danni,” he said on an exasperated sigh, “you do it _all_ the time. What is he, the fourth guy since I’ve been back? And we’re only three and a half weeks into the semester. That’s one a week.”

Ever since his friend-slash-manager had found out he was batting for the home team and she didn’t have a chance—and, _wow_ , that had been awkward—she’d been subtly trying to play matchmaker with every gay man that walked into the shop; she had an awesome gaydar, quite possibly better than Jared’s. And, he had to admit, she had good taste… especially with this latest prospect. But they’d been over this before. It was getting ridiculous.

“He’s only the _third_ guy, Einstein,” Danni said smugly. “Anyway, this one’s different.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“He’s not random,” she replied with a twinkle in her brown eyes.

“Wait. You _know_ him?” They moved in different circles—Jared knew most of Danni’s friends, although not too well—but he was certain he would have remembered this guy if he’d seen him before.

“Maybe.” Danni pursed her lips. “But you’re not interested, so…”

Jared was about to protest, but the brass bell over the door jingled.

“Sorry. Gotta run.” Danneel reached up and patted him on the shoulder before turning to head toward the front counter where two guys in UT Austin shirts were perusing the colorful chalkboard menu on the wall.

Jared was left with his mouth hanging open.

 

~+~

 

**_Monday, September 23_ **

A week passed.

And Danneel would tell Jared nothing of the mysterious man who’d come in to the shop last Tuesday. It was bad enough that Jared had to suck it up and admit that she got him… hook, line, and sinker, but to make him grovel?

Danni was being a bitch—and she knew it.

To make matters worse, the guy had been back just once since last Tuesday, but Jared had only caught sight of him as he’d walked out the door Thursday night, coffee cup in hand.

 

~+~

 

**_Thursday, September 26_ **

It was 8:30pm Thursday evening and Jared had the shop to himself until closing. The line of customers had started to slowly drop off a half hour ago. An elderly couple—George and Henrietta—was seated at one of the tables by the front window. Other than that, the place was empty.

Jared was sitting on a high stool behind the register, heels hooked over the rungs, knees bent with a crossword puzzle book resting on them. He was trying to come up with a five-letter word for “tryst keeper.” _What the hell kind of clue was that?_ He had only the first letter to go by, an L. (That was unless he’d gotten the word going down wrong.)

Jared looked up from his puzzle book when the bell over the door rang breaking the quietude. It was none other than the guy Jared had been thinking about all week: Danni’s “friend.”

He looked younger without his glasses, but Jared could see he was a few years older than himself, maybe even older than Danni by a year or two. Post grad immediately came to mind. That might explain why Jared hadn’t seen him before. Most post grads didn’t live on campus anymore.

Jared slipped off the stool to his feet, set the puzzle book and pencil down next to the register, and subconsciously straightened out his apron as the guy approached the counter.

 “Hi,” Jared said, plastering the biggest, friendliest, most dimpliest smile he had in his arsenal onto his face. “What can I get for you?”

Jared’s smile was all for nothing. The other man wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he was looking up at the menu overhead, brow creased in thought; his straight, white teeth were pressed into his lower lip as if in indecision.

As the man looked over the food and drink options above, Jared let his gaze sweep appreciatively over the fit form standing in front of him, the thigh-hugging jeans that were torn at the knees and the one-size-too-small long-sleeved tee he had on. He wasn’t sure how Danni ever thought Jared could be in this guy’s league. He was damn near perfect, and Jared… wasn’t. In fact, Jared was far from it considering how gangly he was, all long limbs and a little short on coordination, not to mention the unruly mop of hair on his head that he was never quite able to tame.

 “Just a large Americano, to go,” the man answered as he reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet.

 Jared saw the man’s eyes pass over his name tag before he looked down to take a couple bills out to pay. Now the stranger was one up on Jared. He now knew Jared’s name, but Jared didn’t know his—and Danni wouldn’t give it to him.

 “Anything else? Croissant, muffin, doughnut?” Jared offered. “It’s after five, so they’re all discounted fifty percent.”

 “No, thank you,” his customer said, eyes finally meeting Jared’s; Jared couldn’t get over how green they were.

 Jared forced himself to blink and look away from the man. “Okay. One Americano coming right up.” He turned, grabbed an insulated paper cup off the stack, and went to make the requested drink.

While he worked, Jared considered the man’s quiet demeanor. He wasn’t being rude; he just seemed—Jared was looking for the right word—reserved maybe? Maybe he just didn’t want to be bothered? Maybe he was just shy? _Huh_.

Jared glanced at the man again as he waited for the hot water to fill the cup. Why someone who looked like that would be shy, he couldn’t fathom.

There was also another possibility… If he knew what Danni had been up to last week, trying to set Jared up with him, there was a good chance the guy just flat out wasn’t interested, which was more than likely the case. Talk about an awkward situation.

They finished the transaction with no more words than necessary. Jared bid the man goodnight—there was another flash of green which Jared didn’t allow himself to get caught up in this time—and then he was gone. But not before a couple dollars were tucked into the tip jar of which Jared was appreciative.

Jared sighed. Elbows on the counter, he dropped his face down into his hands and stared at the puzzle book which was still sitting there. Jared frowned as he looked at it.

The answer he’d been trying to come up with for the past twenty minutes was neatly penciled into the squares:

L O V E R.

 

~+~

 

“I don’t think he’s interested,” Jared grumbled.

Chad plopped down on the lumpy, third-hand couch beside Jared and reached over to the coffee table to grab a cold slice of pizza from the box. Jared grimaced knowing the pizza was from last night and had never been put away; Chad seemed immune to it though.

“Well, just because he’s good-looking—your words, not mine—doesn’t mean it’s meant to be, dude,” Chad said as he shoved half the slice into his mouth.

It was late, going on midnight. Jared had finished up his shift and had headed back to the apartment to get a couple hours of studying in before he went to bed. He had a test in the morning that he’d rather not fail. Not that he really thought he would do badly if he didn’t study. Business and numbers were in his genes, going back several generations.

Jared tossed his note cards aside and leaned back on the couch. He swept his bangs out of his face and rubbed at his tired eyes. He was exhausted and his brain wasn’t going to absorb anything more tonight.

“I know that. But there’s just something about him…” Jared drifted off, thoughts turning toward the gorgeous man who’d been on his mind so much lately.

“Yeah,” Chad agreed, mouth full of half-masticated food, “’cause he’s a guy and you haven’t gotten laid in over a year. I’m startin’ to think something’s wrong with your dick, man.”

Jared reflexively punched Chad in the shoulder, hard.

“Ow, you asshole.”

“I have no idea why I’m even friends with you.”

“Because you love me.” Chad hesitated when he realized what he’d said. “In the most non-gay kind of way. I mean, I don’t… _love_ you. And you don’t _love_ —”

“Chad…”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

 

~+~

 

**_Thursday, October 3_ **

Jared had a busy schedule.

When the semester had started, he had classes on Monday and Friday afternoons (Fridays until 4:30pm which he wasn’t fond of) and Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He worked at the shop on Monday mornings, Tuesday afternoons (sometimes until closing depending on who else was working), alternating Wednesday mornings, every Wednesday evening, and Saturdays until noon. He had Wednesdays off from school and Sundays were his day to veg out and rest up before the cycle began all over again the following week.

Jared had finally gotten it all figured out, but then Danni had thrown a wrench into things with the start of his fourth week back. Her Thursday girl, a senior, had been offered a last-minute internship and had had to leave and Danni had needed someone to cover Thursdays until closing. Jared had said he’d do it… not because she’d worked with him and done him a favor by giving him more hours, but what else were friends for? It honestly didn’t matter one way or the other to him what days he worked as long as it didn’t clash with his class schedule and he continued to receive a paycheck every week.

 

~+~

 

Today was Thursday, Jared’s third one. He glanced at his watch to check the time. It was twelve minutes after eight. He looked at the door from where he was perched on the stool,  _Catcher in the Rye_  in his hand. The sun was just starting to settle below the horizon. In another few weeks, they would be setting the clocks back to standard time for the winter and it would be completely dark outside by now. Jared always hated losing that extra hour of daylight. He was testing a theory tonight. Danni’s friend (and yes, he was still nameless, no thanks to the lovely Miss Harris) seemed to come in around the same time every Thursday. If Jared was right, he should be walking through the door within the next fifteen minutes.

It had been a little over two weeks since he’d first seen the guy. During that time, Jared had seen him a total of five times. (Yeah, he might have been keeping count.) Each time, except for the last two Thursdays when he’d come in for a quick coffee purchase, he would sit down at the same table, spread his books out, slip his glasses on, and spend several hours lost in his work. When he’d come in the last time for one of his study sessions, Jared could have sworn he’d caught the guy looking at him… more than once. That was something, no matter how little, and Jared let himself latch onto that.

Danni had kept close-lipped on the subject of her friend. Ever since Jared had gone off on her about trying to set him up with people, she’d become Fort Knox. If Jared asked about him, Danni would conveniently find a customer who needed something or she’d simply, and quite obviously, change the subject, or she’d remember a phone call to a supplier she’d needed to make. She was clearly going to make Jared work for this.

Danneel brushed past him as she went to the dishwasher to deposit the dirty dishes she’d collected from her rounds. At this time of night, they often transitioned into cleaning mode since most people who came in were just grabbing a quick cup of something or another to go instead of sticking around to socialize.

“You’re up to something.” The ceramic mugs clinked and rattled as she stacked them on the racks to be washed.

“I’m not—” Jared started to deny, but Danneel cut him off as she closed the door to the dishwasher and wiped her hands off on a towel.

“Uh, huh. Anyone ever tell you that you suck at lying? You’ve got several tells.” She grinned at Jared knowingly and then giggled. “I bet you’d suck at Poker.” She punched a few buttons on the dishwasher and then turned it on. “You know, he’s gonna think you’re desperate if he sees you waiting like that. I hate to tell you, but subtlety is not your strong suit.”

Jared slid off the stool down onto his feet. He loved Danni—he really did—but he’d had enough of her incessant teasing. “Well, if you’d give me something to go by, then maybe I wouldn’t have to be so desperate.” He threw up his hands and gestured with air quotes at the word desperate. “I mean, you won’t even tell me his name,” he nearly pleaded. “He could be my future husband for cryin’ out loud. How would you feel if you found out you kept me from marrying my soul—?”

Someone coughed behind Jared. His mouth snapped shut and he whirled around on his heel. His eyes went wide.  _Shit_. It was him. _How had he not heard the bell ring?_ Jared felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Without saying anything, he turned and stormed off toward the back of the shop because he really didn’t need this. He didn’t stop walking until he pushed through the door and was outside.

Forget it. He was done.

Jared leaned back against the cool brick of the building and slid down to his haunches. He rested his head on the wall behind him and closed his eyes. He was just starting to consider what the effect would be on his already pitiful bank account if he quit when he heard the familiar creak of the door opening. He didn’t bother acknowledging Danni’s presence as she stepped outside. The least she could do was give him a few minutes. It wasn’t like they were busy.

“Y’okay?”

Jared startled. It wasn’t the voice he was expecting to hear. He cracked his eyes open and saw the object of his desires standing there beside him looking down at him. The guy rolled that plump bottom lip of his in between his teeth and chewed on it; the action was somewhat endearing.

“Yeah, I—” Jared hesitated wondering how much of his earlier rant the guy had overheard. He hoped not that much. If he did, Jared prayed that he hadn’t made the connection between Jared’s words and himself. “I’m fine. Danni’s just… well… being a pain in the ass.”

Jared pushed himself up from the ground and dusted his hands off on his jeans. This close, he noticed as he came up to his full height that he was taller than the older man by several inches. That wasn’t unusual though. Jared  _was_  six-foot-four, not exactly average by any standard.

His reply got a small chuckle out of the man and Jared decided right then that he could listen to that sound all day long.

“Yeah, she’s—” The man paused at that for a moment, looking thoughtful. “I’m sure she means well,” he finally said.

“You’ve known her long?”

The guy tucked his hands into his pockets and looked down at his feet before lifting his eyes back up to Jared again. Even in the growing dusk, Jared noticed how long the other man’s eyelashes were; it was so unfair how damn perfect he really was.

“You could say that. She’s sorta like a little sister, I guess.” He took half a step back and pulled a hand out of his front pocket to reach up and rub at the nape of his neck. “Well, I, uh, I’ve got to get goin’. Work, you know? And I’m guessin’ you’ve got to get back inside. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

Jared wasn’t sure what to say to that. He resorted to: “Uh, thanks.”

He got a nod in return.

“Maybe I’ll see you around,” the still unnamed man said as he pulled the door open to go back inside.

Jared called out before he could disappear on him. “Hey, wait!”

The guy stopped mid-step and looked over his shoulder at Jared.

“What’s your name?” Jared asked.

Jared was blessed with a small—but no less beautiful for it—smile.

“Jensen.”

 

~+~

 

**_Tuesday, October 8_ **

It was the following Tuesday evening.

Jared was at the register changing out some large bills for a pile of singles and fives. He closed the drawer when he was done and handed the tens and twenties (and a rare fifty) to Danneel. She didn’t move away as he’d expected her to. Instead, she chewed on the corner of her lip as she stared at him.

“What?” he asked, bracing himself because he knew that look. It could be cause for worry more often than not.

“He asked about you last night.”

Jared’s brain was mush after a long afternoon of non-stop customers (and that didn’t include the headache that he was currently contending with), and Danni’s statement was so out of the blue that he had no idea know who or what she was talking about.

“Who?”

“Oh, don’t give me that.” She smacked him on the shoulder with the wad of bills in her hand. “Jensen. Who else?”

“Wha—”

“He came by for a coffee after you left yesterday. He said you looked a little flushed the other day when he went to check on you and wanted to make sure you were doing okay, that you weren’t sick or something.” She arched a dark eyebrow at him. “You know, if you had gone along with me in the beginning, you two probably would’ve been on a date or two by now.”

“Yeah, right. Like someone like that would actually—”

The bell over the door rang out cutting Jared off. Danni’s eyes darted over his shoulder before meeting his again. “Oh, and speak of the devil. Have fun, Jay.” Then she headed off to the office to deposit the money in the safe leaving Jared to fend for himself.

Jared turned around and, sure enough, there was Jensen. _And fuck._ Since when did Jared have a thing for the scruffy, unshaven look? It looked like Jensen hadn’t shaved in a few days and his usually smooth jawline was covered in a heavy shadow of strawberry blond.

“Hey. What can I get for you?” Jared managed to get out a lot more smoothly than he’d expected to be able to. The idea that Jensen, this beautiful man standing in front of him, had been asking about him was still rattling around in Jared’s brain and had his lips turning up and his dimples popping.

The answer, as Jared had come to expect by now, was: “Americano.” The word was accompanied by a soft, genuine smile.

 

~+~

 

An hour later, Jared quietly picked up Jensen’s empty mug, not wanting to disturb the man, and set another one down in its place. Jensen looked up from his notes at the interruption.

“I—I just thought you might like a refill,” Jared stuttered. “Don’t mind me.”

He turned to leave, but stopped when Jensen reached out and snagged his sleeve to stop his retreat.

“You’re not botherin’ me. Stay a bit. My brain is toast anyway,” Jensen said as he closed his notebook and tossed it onto the pile of loose papers in front of him along with his yellow highlighter. He gestured to the empty seat across the table from himself. “It’s quiet and Danni looks like she’s got things covered.” He took his glasses off and set them down on the table next to his work.

What Jensen said about the shop was true; they’d hit that lull in the Tuesday evening traffic. Jared glanced toward the counter only to see Danni quickly look away from them and start busying herself sorting the remaining goods in the baked goods case—but he would have had to be a blind man not to see the pleased smile on her face. Yeah, he could get away for a few minutes.

“Okay, yeah. Sure.” Jared hesitantly took the offered seat. “So, I’m guessin’ you’re post grad. What’s your major?”

Jensen frowned, eyes narrowing at Jared. “Do I look that old to you?”

“No!” Jared quickly back pedaled, feeling himself growing red in the face. “No. I—I didn’t mean—”

The other man laughed. “Relax, Jay. I’m just messin’ with you.”

Since when did Jensen call Jared _Jay_? They’d hardly said more than a dozen words to each other since their first meeting.

“Business,” Jensen said, pulling Jared out of his thoughts and answering his question. “I’m third year post grad. Almost done with all this shit.” He nodded toward the books in front of him. “Just another couple semesters to go. What’re you in for, law, engineering… architecture?”

“Actually, I’m majoring in business, too. Working toward my master’s. Family business kind of thing.” Jensen nodded at that. “Wish I could say I only had a couple semesters left.”

Jensen studied Jared for a little longer than Jared was comfortable with. Just as he was starting to squirm, Jensen spoke.

“Junior?”

Jared nodded.

Jensen grinned. “D’you have Baxter?” Jared scrunched up his face and Jensen snickered. “Still a bastard, I take it?”

Jared laughed. “Yeah. Just a little.”

 

~+~

 

It quickly became a thing on the days when Jensen came in to study, Jared sitting with him at his table, keeping him company when his shift allowed for it. Their conversations were becoming more and more comfortable with every word spoken, Jensen finally coming out of that shell he’d seemingly been in when they’d first met.

Jared learned that Jensen had grown up in Richardson, a suburb of Dallas. He was four years older than Jared, a year older than Danni. (Speaking of Danni, Jared found out that Jensen had known her since high school.) Jensen, like Jared, came from a tight-knit family and had an older brother and a younger sister. When it came to sports, Jensen liked the Cowboys… and the Mavericks. That was almost a deal breaker—but no one was perfect, Jared supposed, so he had opted to forgive Jensen that. (There was also nothing wrong with a little friendly competition.) But he wanted to know more about the man who sat across from him on those days. He didn’t think there’d ever come a time when he didn’t.

Days passed and Danni never said a word. It seemed as if she felt her job was done. Jared and Jensen were forming a fast friendship—they had too much in common not to be friends.

And possibly more.

Jared just had to figure out how he was going to go about asking for that.

 

~+~

 

**_Tuesday, October 15_ **

 

“So, what’s your schedule like?” Jared asked curiously as he took a bite out of his powder sugar-coated beignet. “You seem to pop in and out of here randomly more often than not, except for maybe Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“And Fridays and Saturdays,” Jensen added. “Just because you’re not here doesn’t mean I’m not,” he teased with a wink. Jensen’s knee bumped into Jared’s as he shifted in his seat, leg stretching out under the table. “I suppose it’s what you’d guess for a post grad. The classes aren’t so long, but they expect you to do more on your own.” He tapped the open book on the table with his pen. “And my job keeps me busy when I’m not here or in class, mostly Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, but sometimes I’m needed at other times.” Then he smirked, and Jared wondered if Jensen knew how sinful he looked when he did that. Jared was pretty sure he did. “Why, you miss me when I’m not here?”

Jensen leaned forward, then, hesitating briefly before reaching across the table and passing a thumb over the corner of Jared’s mouth with a smile. His thumb came away with a dusting of powdered sugar on it and Jared felt his cock twitch in the confines of his jeans when Jensen sucked the digit into his mouth.

“Well, you’re better company than some. Danni’s, uh…” Jared glanced down at the table before looking up and meeting Jensen eye to eye, “not exactly my type.”

 

~+~

 

**_Friday, October 25_ **

“You need a break, dude. All work and no play makes Jaybird a dull boy and all that shit. Speaking of shit, you look like it, too.”

“Thanks for the compliment, asshat.” Jared nonchalantly flipped Chad the bird.

Jared couldn’t deny it though. What Chad said was true. Between the heavy classload this semester and working the extra hours down at the shop, Jared was starting to feel it. Apparently, he was starting to look it, too. Eight weeks down and seven left of the fall semester. At least they were past the halfway point.

“You’re welcome. Now, since you seem to agree, we’re goin’ out tonight. Go shower and make yourself pretty. You gotta look good ‘cause you’re my wingman and your gay ass draws in all the hot chicks.”

Jared groaned.

“Can it, Sasquatch. You’ll like where we’re going. I promise.”

That so didn’t make Jared feel any better.

 

~+~

 

An hour later, their cab rolled to a stop in front of a large, brick building in a part of Austin Jared didn’t frequent—there was good reason for that: it wasn’t the nicest of neighborhoods—and there was a line of people, men and women, waiting to get in.

He might not have been out this way often, but Jared had heard of the place: the Jack & Jill Club. “No,” he said without even thinking about it.

“Dude, c’mon. We’ll have a few drinks, get comfortable. You can even stay up at the bar if you want.”

“What good’s the bar gonna do me? They card at these places. Just ‘cause you’re twenty-one…”

Chad had just hit the legal drinking age at the end of August. To this day, Jared still wasn’t sure how they hadn’t been tossed out of their apartment after the party Chad had thrown himself. There must have been a thousand people there; not one of them had left the place sober. (Even someone’s dog had seemed a bit tipsy after that.)

Chad reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He glanced at it, then handed it to Jared.

“Welcome to the ‘Over Twenty-One Club,’ dude. Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you.”

The cab driver cleared his throat and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. They both ignored him—Chad, because he didn’t care, and Jared, because he was used to people getting irritated when Chad was in the vicinity and there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Jared looked down at the small, laminated card Chad had given him. It was dark out and he didn’t have much light aside from the streetlamp and the marquee sign, but he knew the fake ID would pass closer inspection. Chad majored in computer science and minored in graphic design and he was good at what he did, scarily so. It shouldn’t surprise Jared that Chad had been “twenty-one” for the last few years.

He sighed as he flipped the card between his fingers and tucked it into his jacket pocket. He’d told himself he’d never set foot in another strip club after the “incident” at his brother’s bachelor party. Yet, here he was.

“Fine… but you’re buying the first round.”

“Yes!” Chad pumped his fist in the air before tossing the driver a handful of cash and whipping the door open.

Jared shook his head and slipped out behind him.

 

~+~

 

The Jack & Jill Club was the only strip joint in Austin that had both male and female dancers. The women were at the rear of the main floor and the men were downstairs. With Halloween less than a week away the place was decorated with orange and black streamers with paper skulls and Jack-o-lanterns hanging from them. Black candles sat at the center of every table. Bowls of candy corn had been put out beside bowls of peanuts at the bar. As Jared looked around, he noticed a good handful of the club’s patrons had gotten into the spirit of things by wearing costumes.

Chad and Jared bee-lined for the bar as soon as they were in the door.

Chad flagged down the bartender, who was wearing a Superman costume, and ordered two Coronas and four shots of tequila to start with. Their IDs were requested and they passed them over. Jared didn’t bother holding his breath when the bartender quickly glanced at them, nodded, and handed them back. Moments later, their drinks were set down in front of them and Chad paid as he’d promised.

Jared picked up his first shot glass. He wondered if this was such a bright idea, especially when he had to be at work at 6:00am tomorrow morning.

“Here’s to livin’ the dream!” Chad exclaimed as he knocked his glass against Jared’s and then threw it back, grimacing when the burn hit.

Jared rolled his eyes, but he followed suit.

 

~+~

 

They spent a good amount of time at the bar before venturing further into the club. During that time, the alcohol continued to flow at a steady pace. Work slowly became a fuzzy thought at the back of Jared’s mind as the world around him became a comfortable blur of lights, sound, and warm bodies.

When they were good and buzzed, they moved out across the main floor, more drinks in hand. Two women were on stage wearing not much more than what Jared considered to be dental floss—they were beautiful, but they did nothing for him as they wrapped themselves around shiny poles and slipped down into provocative squats, legs spread and hands slipping down their naked thighs. Being the awesome friend that he was, he stuck around through a couple sets before he tapped Chad on the shoulder and said he was heading downstairs to check out the male acts. Surprisingly, Chad followed.

“Uh, Chad?”

“Dude, I know I ain’t goin’ home with one of them.” Chad gestured toward the strippers on stage, his eyes lingering over his shoulder for another minute before he looked back at Jared. “So where are all the other girls, the ones I’ve got a chance with? Use that big brain of yours.” He tapped Jared on the side of the head. “They’re downstairs watchin’ the guys!”

Chad draped an arm across Jared’s shoulders causing them both to teeter and sway. Jared blinked, trying to see straight as he made his way toward the stairs. He drained his bottle of Corona and handed it off to a passing waitress.

Pink’s _Let Get This Party Started_ was blaring from the sound system when they entered the downstairs room. Jared’s gaze swept over all the women (and a few men) and finally landed on the stage where a “police officer” was just snapping his pants off revealing a half hard cock hidden behind a very small piece of dark, satiny material.

Chad yelped and covered his eyes causing Jared to throw his head back and laugh. He wondered how long Chad would last down here, even with swarms of the opposite sex milling about.

“I better not catch your gay, man,” Chad muttered just loud enough to be heard over the music as they worked their way through the room attempting to find a free table.

They eventually found a table after wandering around for a bit. Much to Jared’s disappointment, it wasn’t as near to the stage as he would have liked it to be and it was somewhat off to the side—but beggars couldn’t be choosers. They draped their jackets over the backs of their chairs and sat down. Jared immediately ordered another round of shots from the waiter who was dressed in nothing but black boy shorts that advertised his assets quite nicely— _and wow_ —and a red bowtie. Jared made sure to pick up the tab this time. It was the least he could do for Chad who was currently trying to figure out the best way in which to keep his man card intact.

Twenty minutes and a total of three acts later, Jared was thoroughly relaxed, sitting back in his seat and enjoying the show. He glanced over at Chad who was grinning maniacally, a girl with long blond hair straddling his lap and providing him with his own entertainment. (She was dressed as a bunny, Jared noticed.) Jared smiled. _Like Chad really needed a wingman._ He seemed to be managing quite well on his own. Jared turned his eyes back toward the stage where a new act was just about ready to come on. He could practically feel the anticipation levels rise in the room around them.

The crowd grew quiet as the lights at the edges of the stage came up again flashing different colors across the floor. Jared sipped his beer and watched as the dancer moved out onto the stage, his steps military precise. The finer details of the man were slightly skewed—Jared was well beyond three sheets to the wind and he had to narrow his eyes to keep from seeing double—but he could still appreciate the view.

Navy, Jared’s brain slowly supplied to him. That’s what he was. The guy was wearing dress whites; although, maybe they were a little tighter than the regulation uniforms of that particular branch of the military. He had on the full dress uniform, complete with white gloves, one of those damn sexy hats with the shiny, black brims, and mirrored aviators that reflected the reds, blues, and greens of the dancing spotlights. Jared could have a wet dream just from that sight alone; the guy didn’t even have to take it all off.

When the dancer reached the center of the stage, he pivoted on his heel, keeping his body erect, shoulders back and chest out. He slowly brought his hand up and saluted.

Then the music started.

 _Love is like a (bomb)_  
_(Bomb)_  
_(Bomb)_  
_Love is like a (bomb)_  
_(I'm hot)_

There was nothing even remotely resembling the navy in the steps that followed as Def Leppard’s _Pour Some Sugar on Me_ kicked into gear. The dancer moved across the stage, body and motions becoming one with the steady beat of the music. _  
_

_Love is like a bomb baby c'mon get it on_  
_Livin' like a lover with a radar phone_  
_Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp_  
_Demolition woman, can I be your man? (Your man)_

The trousers hugged the man’s thighs quite nicely from what Jared could see from his vantage point and the sleeves of his jacket enveloped well-defined biceps. Under the hat, Jared could just make out dirty blond hair that glittered beneath the spotlights. His eyes tracked down from there to a firm jawline and full, pouty lips.

 _Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light_  
_Television lover, baby, go all night_  
_Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet_  
_Little miss ah innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_

The dancer strutted across the stage and ripped open his jacket as he grinned down at the nearby audience. He spun around and slowly peeled it off, rolling each shoulder out of it, one by one, and tossed it aside. Jared’s gaze fell to where the thin, white material of the undershirt that had been beneath it stretched tautly across the wide expanse of the man’s broad shoulders; sweat and body oil had the shirt clinging like a second skin leaving nothing to the imagination.

 _Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ooh in the name of love_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_C'mon fire me up_  
_Pour your sugar on me_  
_Ooh I can't get enough_  
_I'm hot, sticky sweet_  
_From my head to my feet, yeah_

The dancer bent down and shook his pert ass. _And what a fine ass it was._

Suddenly, Jared’s mind went places it shouldn’t. If he squinted just right, and turned his head just so, the guy could almost pass for… Jensen. The fact that he still wore the aviators and the hat, which kept Jared from seeing his face (and maybe Jared’s lack of sobriety), helped add to the illusion. _Shit._ Jared’s cock liked that idea and was absolutely running with it. Jared found himself having to shift in his seat when his jeans began to feel a little too tight.

 _Listen, red light, yellow light, green-a-light go_  
_Crazy little woman in a one man show_  
_Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love_  
_Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up (loosen up) loosen up_

Jared jumped when Chad reached over and pushed his mouth closed.

“You’re gonna start catchin’ flies, bro,” Chad teased making the girl—Amanda? Ashley?—in his lap giggle.

“Fuck you, dude.” Jared smacked his hand away and looked back up at the stage where the dancer was now down on his knees, body bowed as he leaned back with one arm stretched out behind him for support, and was basically dry humping the air as he slid a hand down and stroked himself much to the delight of the audience.

 _You gotta squeeze a little, tease a little please a little more_  
_Easy operator come a knockin' on my door_  
_Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet_  
_Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah_  
_Give a little more, take a bottle, shake it up_  
_Break the bubble, break it up_

The music played on and, little by little, more articles of clothing disappeared. Jared was spellbound. Another shot of tequila showed up in front of him and he tossed it back, no longer feeling the burn as it slid down his throat, and then he chased it with a swig of his Corona. His eyes remained locked on the stage.

The t-shirt was gone. The belt was unbuckled. The pants were unfastened.

Jared leaned forward in his seat, Chad and his girl long forgotten.

 _Take a bottle (take a bottle)_  
_Shake it up (shake it up)_  
_Break the bubble (break it up)_  
_Break it up (break it up)_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ooh in the name of love_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_C'mon fire me up_  
_Pour your sugar on me_  
_Ooh I can't get enough_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ooh in the name of love_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_Get it, come get it_  
_Pour your sugar on me, oh_  
_Pour some sugar on me yeah, sugar me_

With a deft flick of a wrist, the trousers were a thing of the past. Jared licked his lips as he blinked his eyes trying to bring things into focus. _Jesus Christ, why had he drunk so much?_ Jared would really like to see this act a bit more clearly. It would make for some great material later on when he was alone in his bed.

 _Pour some sugar on me_  
_Ooh in the name of love_  
_Pour some sugar on me_  
_C'mon and fire me up_  
_Pour your sugar on me_  
_Oh, I can't get enough_  
_I'm hot, sticky sweet_  
_From my head to my feet yeah_

A red, white, and blue satin G-string was revealed and the crowd roared as the dancer _thrust, thrust, thrust_. Jared didn’t hold back either. No one here knew him but Chad—and he didn’t care what Chad thought.

 _You got the peaches, I got the cream_  
_Sweet to taste, saccharine_  
_Cause I'm hot, (say what), sticky sweet_  
_From my head, (my head) to my feet_  
_Do you take sugar? One lump or two?_

The dancer moved around the stage as if he owned it. Bills were tucked into the sides of his G-string. If Jared had been closer, and a little steadier on his feet, he would have been right there adding to the cache of money… and maybe, just maybe, he would have let his fingers trail over that smooth, glistening skin.

The mental image of Jensen stripped down to nothing but a tiny slip of satiny material was almost too much and Jared swallowed down a quiet groan as he pressed the heel of his palm to the thick line pressing against the zipper of his jeans.

The song wound down to its end, the dancer made a low, sweeping bow as the lights came back down signaling the end of the act, and then he jogged off the stage and was gone.

“Well, now that that’s done,” Chad started once the dancer disappeared behind the dark curtain at the rear of the stage, “I think we need to call it a night.” Chad eyed Jared up and down. “D’you think you can even stand?”

Chad’s voice was like a bucket of ice water bringing him back to reality. Jared looked over at him. The girl from earlier was nowhere to be seen. “Huh?” he asked stupidly, alcohol sloshing around in his head.

“Here, have a water.” Chad pushed a bottle of water over to Jared. “You’re gonna be one hurtin’ puppy tomorrow. Me, too,” he added even as he took another long pull from his beer.

Jared cracked the seal on the bottle and drained three-quarters of it in one go.

He didn’t remember the trip home. He didn’t remember the rest of the night… or how he managed to get into bed.

But it goddamn sucked when his alarm went off the next morning at five o’clock.

 

~+~

 

**_Saturday, October 26_ **

Jared shuffled slowly through the back door of the shop, a Cowboys ball cap pulled low over his brow to block out as much light as possible. He felt like death. He had no idea how many drinks he’d had last night, but apparently it was more than a few too many. Most of last night was a blur. The only thing he could remember was a man in a navy uniform who had reminded him a little too much of Jensen.

“Oh, yay,” Danneel’s voice rang out sharply causing Jared to flinch, “I’ve got a matched set. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were out together last night.”

“Danni,” Jared pleaded. He had no idea what she was talking about or who he was a “matched set” with; Chad had still been crashed on the couch when Jared had left the apartment all of fifteen minutes ago. Other than that, Jensen was the only person he could think of—and he definitely wasn’t out with Jensen last night. He’d remember that. “Please just give me some coffee, preferably something strong.”

“Fine. Give me a minute.” Danneel turned and headed over to the coffee pot. She returned a moment later holding two large coffees out to Jared. “Black. No sugar. No cream.”

Jared wrinkled his nose at the idea of pure, black coffee. He supposed he needed it though. He was about to ask Danni why she was giving him two cups when she filled him in.

“The other’s for Jensen.”

Jared’s eyes snapped up and he looked around the shop, but he didn’t see the other man.

“He’s up in the loft,” Danni offered in explanation. “Tread lightly. He looks about as wonderful as you do.”

The loft was a small area that overlooked the main floor of the shop. Danni kept saying she was planning on opening it to the customers, but she never seemed to get around to it. Jared didn’t think she ever would. Right now, it was a more of a break room for the employees. There was a couch, a coffee table, and a couple overstuffed chairs up there… and more books if one could believe it. It was a good place for Jared to nap in between classes and the start of his shifts—the couch was awesome.

Jared nodded and accepted the coffees from Danneel. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re gonna make it up somehow.” She looked at her watch. “You have exactly one hour to look alive and get your pretty ass back down here. Now, go.” She pointed at the flight of stairs leading up to the loft.

Jared unlatched the chain across the bottom of the stairs—the small, wooden sign hanging from it said “No Admittance”—and then put it back in place once he was on the other side being careful not to spill the coffees as he did. He looked up the stairs and hoped he could make it to the top without getting sick. He closed his eyes, wishing for a blessing from above, and swallowed as he lifted his foot to the first step. Jared concentrated on one stair at a time keeping his eyes down. Eventually, he made it to the top.

Jensen was sprawled out on the couch, long legs stretched out to the coffee table where his feet were crossed at the ankles. His head was tilted back, eyes hidden behind a dark pair of sunglasses, and his arms were folded over his chest.

Jared didn’t say anything. He just stood there watching him for a moment. It was a nice view.

“You gonna stand there admiring the goods all day or bring me my coffee? Or was I mistaken when I assumed you were an employee here?” Jensen finished with a little smirk as he pulled off his sunglasses revealing eyes that could tell stories about last night, wherever he had been or whatever he might have been doing.

Jared should have been embarrassed about getting caught staring, but he wasn’t. Instead, he grinned. “So, what’s your excuse?” he asked as he crossed the small room and handed Jensen his coffee.

“Long night. Work, friends who are a bad influence, and too much alcohol. Oh, and did I mention friends who are a bad influence?” Jensen mumbled, voice gruff with exhaustion, as he patted the couch next to him. “Yours?”

“The same, minus the work,” Jared answered as he took the proffered seat.

Jensen took a long pull from his coffee and Jared cringed knowing how hot it had to be— hell, the cups alone were nearly scalding—but it didn’t seem to faze Jensen in the least.

“Was it worth it?” Jensen asked.

Jared’s thoughts turned back to last night. He felt a little guilty looking back on it since he was _this_ close to asking Jensen out on a date. But considering he’d spent half the evening imagining the guy on stage _was_ Jensen…

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Good. That’s what counts.” Jensen took another sip of his coffee before putting it down on the table. “Now, I think I need to close my eyes again. Feels like my head is stuck in a vise and someone’s still turnin’ the crank,” he said with a groan.

It wasn’t long before they were slouching against each other, both too tired and hung over to carry on much of a conversation. A few more silent minutes passed before Jensen slipped further down, his feet lifting onto the couch as his legs curled up behind him; his head came to rest in Jared’s lap as his breaths slowed into a sleepy rhythm.

With Jensen’s movement, his over-shirt and t-shirt had ridden up leaving a tantalizing strip of skin over his hipbone exposed. Jared reached over to pull the shirts back into place, but his hand hovered over the tempting bit of flesh. Jared bit down on his lip as he glanced down at a sleeping Jensen before he let his fingers caress over the hot skin. Jensen shifted into the touch and murmured something that didn’t reach Jared’s ears. After a sparse few seconds, Jared reluctantly pulled the cotton back down into place and let his fingers settle into the soft strands of hair on Jensen’s head instead. It was safer territory.

As he was looking down at the older man, he noticed a bit of something shimmering along the line of his sideburn. Jared smoothed his thumb over it and tried to wipe whatever it was away. That was when he noticed more of the same thing on the tips of his own fingers. When he looked closer, he frowned. _Glitter?_ Now that it had been brought to his attention, he saw more of it in Jensen’s hair—not much, but it was there—and Jared’s forehead creased further.

 _What the hell had Jensen been doing last night?_ he wondered as he looked down at the coffee table eyes landing on Jensen’s sunglasses.

Aviators.

Jared looked back down at Jensen, current questions quickly falling by the wayside as images in his mind from last night began to blur and overlap with what was right in front of him.

He tried to imagine what Jensen would look like in dress whites… Probably hotter than the guy last night.

 

~+~

 

“Rise and shine, Jenny!”

There was a sharp _crack_ of a hand smacking against denim.

Jared’s eyes snapped open. He barely got out of the way before Jensen sprang up from where he’d been lying, the back of his head narrowly missing Jared’s chin.

“What the fuck, asshole?” Jensen growled as he rubbed at the side of his thigh where Jared surmised the guy, who had a head of thick, dark hair and a roguish smile, had smacked him… hard from the sound of it. From the size of the guy—he was built like a brick shithouse—it had to have hurt.

Jensen’s language had Jared gaping. Jared wasn’t a saint by any measure—he had his own extensive and colorful vocabulary—but Jensen had always been all Texas charm and southern manners. This was a new side of him that Jared had never seen. Jared kind of liked it.

“If I’d’ve known you were shackin’ up with your boy—”

“Chris,” Jensen warned.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chris muttered as he took a seat on the arm of one of the empty chairs. “You’re always such a sparkly ball of sunshine after a late night jam session. Shoulda known better.”

Jared kept his mouth shut as the two men went back and forth. From their conversation, he guessed this Chris character was one of Jensen’s close friends. And a jam session? Jensen was in a band? You learn something new every day.

Jensen scrubbed a hand over his face. “Oh, yeah. And you’re a damn bucket of rainbow sprinkles yourself there, Tinker Bell. How the hell are you even up and movin’ around this early after last night? You drank more than me and Steve, combined.” He picked up what remained of his coffee and drank it. He pulled the cup away from his mouth with a disgusted grimace. “Ugh. Tell me you brought a fresh coffee.”

“First of all, it’s ten-thirty, moron. Second of all, I ain’t your wife. You get your own damn coffee.”

“Ten-thirty?” Jared nearly squeaked, causing both men to look at him. _Crap!_ They’d been sleeping for almost four and a half hours. _Where the hell was Danni? Why hadn’t she come up to wake him?_ “I gotta— Shit! I’ve missed more than half my shift. Danni’s gonna kill me,” he quickly scrambled up from the couch.

From his perch on the arm of the chair, Chris looked Jared up and down and grinned. “Wow, Jenny wasn’t kiddin’ ‘bout you.”

“Chris, give ‘im a break.”

At the same time, Jared saw Danni making her way up the stairs.

“Oh, look! My star employee and his boyfriend are finally awake!” she said as she sat down in the one remaining chair and took a sip from a lavender-colored ceramic mug that she had brought with her.

Chris snickered at Danni’s use of the word boyfriend.

Jared glanced down at Jensen and the other man was fiddling with his coffee cup, the tips of his ears growing pink. Jared raised his brow, but didn’t say anything.

“Danni, why didn’t you come get me?” Jared asked, looking back at the woman and trying to ignore what Jensen’s silence might mean.

“I did come up, but you two looked so adorable together,” she said with a smile, “I couldn’t bring myself to wake you. Bri and I had it covered anyway. Allison’s down there now with her.”

Jared flopped back down on the couch and picked up his own leftover coffee from earlier. “Adorable’s not exactly the term I would use for two hung over guys,” he grumbled as he peered down at his drink and wondered how bad it _did_ taste. He found out a second later when the cold, bitter liquid hit his tongue and he made a gagging sound.

It was Jensen’s turn to laugh.

 

~+~

 

As it turned out, Chris was another of Jensen’s long-time friends. They’d met when Chris’ family had relocated to Texas from Oklahoma; they had been five and nine at the time, Jensen being the younger of the two.

Jared learned that Jensen lived with Chris… and that Chris was very, very straight. Chris just wanted to make sure Jared understood that; he didn’t want Jared getting any weird ideas about went on in their household.

“I wouldn’t touch your ass with a ten-foot pole,” Jensen teased from his seat on the couch. “My brain is still scarred from seein’ that pale, ugly thing streaking across the house last week.”

“Hey, just because you like shakin’ that money—”

A throw pillow collided with Chris’ head and his words were cut off. Danneel nearly spit out her coffee. Jared turned to look at Jensen who was glaring at Chris, eyes the color of stormy seas.

_Was Jared missing something here?_

“Jensen?”

Jensen stood up from the couch. “I gotta go. Jay, I’ll catch you later.” And then he was gone, taking the steps two at a time. A few moments later, Jared heard the bell over the door jingle signaling Jensen’s exit.

“Shit,” Chris drawled. “I suppose I should go clean up my mess.” He got up from his seat and looked at Jared. “Nice meetin’ you, son. Danni…” He turned to Danni and leaned down to kiss her on the temple. Then he was heading down the stairs after Jensen.

Jared didn’t know what the hell had just happened. He looked at Danneel.

“Danni?”

She shrugged. “There are some things about Jensen you’ll have to find out yourself, Jay.”

Jared watched her get up and leave as well.

 

~+~

 

**_Thursday, October 31_ **

 

“Have a good night,” Jared said to the small group of girls who were walking out of the shop. They were all dressed in costumes ranging from naughty nurses to a Smurf. _Yeah, a Smurf._ He smiled and shook his head as he went back to scrubbing down the primary espresso machine after a full day’s use.

As he worked, his mind wandered off to Jensen. He was still trying to piece together what had happened last Saturday morning. Jensen and Chris had gone from teasing, friendly banter to Jensen getting pissed off in a heartbeat about something Chris had said. Jared hadn’t seen Jensen since. He hadn’t shown up on Tuesday like he usually did and it was already past the time tonight that he usually showed up on Thursdays, by almost forty-five minutes. It looked like he was going to be a no-show again.

The bell over the door rang out and Jared looked up from where he was pulling the drain grate out of the machine. His grip slipped and it clattered noisily onto the counter when he saw Jensen walking up to the counter.

“Hey,” Jared said as he wiped his hands off on a nearby towel and approached the counter. “I didn’t think I was going to see you tonight. I missed you the other day.”

Jensen stuffed his hands into his front pockets looking a little sheepish. “Yeah, sorry about that. I just…” His words trailed off and Jared didn’t want to push him.

“You don’t need to explain. We all have shit days. So, the usual?”

A look of relief passed over Jensen’s face and he smiled. “Yeah, the usual.”

Jared started to make Jensen’s drink. “Are you working tonight?” He looked over at Jensen and saw green eyes watching him.

Jensen nodded as he pulled his wallet out. “Yeah. And my boss is gonna kill me for running late. But I, uh, wanted to see you, to let you know what happened last Saturday wasn’t your fault. Chris… he’s—”

Jared placed Jensen’s cup on the counter and waved off Jensen’s attempt to pay. “”S on the house. Just don’t tell Danni,” he said with a wink. “And really, no need to apologize. And if you think Chris is bad, you haven’t met my friend Chad. It’s probably best if you never do.”

Jensen grinned, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Yeah, I suppose there’s always gotta be one in the bunch. Well, I gotta run. Oh…” He stopped before turning to leave. “You got a pen and some paper?”

Jared reached under the counter for an order pad and pulled a pen from the cup next to the register. He handed them over to Jensen.

“Here’s my number.” Jensen quickly scribbled it down. “I should’ve given it to you before. If you ever want to talk or whatever, feel free to call.” He tore the page off the pad and slipped it to Jared along with the pen. “Shit, I really gotta run.” He grabbed the coffee off the counter and bolted toward the door. As he opened it, he stopped and looked back at Jared with a wide grin on his face. “Thanks for the coffee, Gumby.”

Jared’s eyes went wide and then he laughed; he’d somehow managed to forget that he’d dressed up for today just like half the campus had. It wasn’t easy to move around behind the counter when you were dressed as a seven foot tall clay figure.

“Get outta here. You’re already late.”

Jensen gave Jared a mock salute and then moved off into the night.

Jared’s forehead creased momentarily as the door swung closed behind Jensen and then he shook his head not knowing what was throwing him off.

He looked down at the paper with Jensen’s phone number on it. Beneath the seven digits, Jensen had signed his name and drawn a small heart next to it.

 

~+~

 

Jared was lying in bed later that night. He couldn’t sleep. He was too hot. He was too cold. Blankets on. Blankets off.

Something was bothering him, niggling at the back of his mind.

And it had something to do with Jensen.

He looked at the clock. It was 11:47pm. Jensen was probably still at work… wherever that was. Jared had never gotten around to asking Jensen what exactly it was that he did. In the few instances it had come up, something had always distracted Jared… usually Jensen himself with an easy quip or a simple touch.

Jared closed his eyes.

He tossed.

He turned.

_Since when was his mattress so damn lumpy?_

Behind closed eyelids, his subconscious kicked into high gear as he floated between dreams and reality.

He saw Jensen dressed in pristine dress whites.

He saw freckles and a familiar smile.

He saw a flash of emerald peek out from behind mirrored aviators.

He saw Jensen salute, the image from earlier tonight overlaying the image of the dancer on stage last Friday, the two shifting and becoming one.

Jared’s eyes snapped open and he stared at the ceiling. For once he didn’t see the crack in the sheet rock that was shaped like a thunder bolt.

“No,” he whispered in the dark of his room. “No fuckin’ way.”

But the evidence was there.

Unbeknownst to Jared, his brain had been knitting the pieces together for a while now. Jensen’s aviators and the glitter in his hair had been the first clues. Jensen’s work hours matched, too. And then there was Jensen himself. He was hot, hot enough to—

Was that what Danni wouldn’t tell Jared? _Did Danni know?_

Jared tried hard to remember what Jensen’s friend Chris had said that had set Jensen off last weekend. Something about shaking his money…

 _Money-maker_.

Suffice to say, Jared didn’t get much sleep the rest of the night, if any at all.

 

~+~

 

**_Friday, November 1_ **

As he’d had lain in bed last night, Jared had considered just asking Jensen if he was a dancer. But really, how awkward would that be, especially if he was wrong? Fast forward to tonight and that was why Jared was now standing outside of Jack & Jill’s waiting to get in (without Chad this time).

The longer he stood in line, the more Jared began to doubt his middle-of-the-night ponderings; the reason being he was having a difficult time putting his Jensen together with a possible stripper Jensen.

Jared considered himself. He was outgoing, the definition of an extrovert, but there was no way he’d ever be able to go up on that stage and take his clothes off in front of a crowd of strangers. He glanced around at all the people in line who were waiting patiently to get in. Yeah, he could never do it. He’d probably pass out. It was possible that he was wrong about this whole thing. Coincidences did happen.

But Jared knew he was right more often than not when he had a hunch about things. His father and grandfather were the same way. It was one of the reasons why Padalecki was an internationally recognized name in the business world.

The line moved forward and Jared swallowed as he neared the door. The beat of the music coming from inside got louder the closer he got to it.

Well, if he was right, and this was what Jensen was doing to make ends meet, then Jared was all for it. He didn’t have a problem with Jensen dancing— _stripping_ , he reminded himself. Actually, he thought it was kind of hot. The shameless side of Jared thought about how fucking awesome it would be to get his own professional strip show in the bedroom—that’s only if Jensen was willing to do it. But all of Jared’s little fantasies would have to wait until he finally grew some balls and asked Jensen out.

Maybe he’d call him tomorrow.

 

~+~

 

Before Jared knew it, he was past the doorman and walking into the club. He hit up the bar first. Tonight, he had no plans on getting as inebriated as he’d gotten last time, but he did need something to calm his nerves. He could safely get away with a beer or two.

The fake ID Chad had made for him passed with flying colors once more. Drink in hand, Jared weaved through the club-goers and headed for the stairs. He was bumped and jostled as he moved down to the lower level. Another minute later, he was hit in the face with AC/DC’s _Highway to Hell_ as he slipped into the downstairs room.

There was a long-haired cowboy strutting around on stage as Jared meandered through the room in search of a free table. He checked his watch and saw that it was only a little after 8:30pm. If his memory served him correctly—things from that night last week were still a bit sketchy—“Jensen” hadn’t been on stage until closer to ten. The place was starting to fill up now that it was getting further into the evening, but Jared was still able to find a table that suited his needs, one that was closer to the stage where he’d be able to get a better view of things, but also not too close either. He took off his jacket and got comfortable.

 

~+~

 

Jared had finished his first beer and was now nursing a second.

The most recent dancer had just disappeared behind the curtain. While the stage was being re-set, a guy who looked to be in charge of things stepped out and announced that there would be a short break before the next act at ten o’clock. Jared glanced at his watch again. He had twenty minutes to kill.

Over the course of the evening, half a dozen dancers had come and gone; quite a few of them were pretty good and had kept Jared well entertained. One thing Jared had noticed, though, was that none of them resembled the guy from last week. In other words, none of them had been Jensen (or the guy who’d looked like him)—but Jared still had a few more hours before the club closed.

The next dancer came and went: a dark-skinned fireman who re-defined the word hot. Another stepped on stage, this one dressed like an 80s rocker. They all began to blur together. Jared purchased another beer and knocked it back. The stage went dark at the close of another set and Jared began to lose hope. It was already half past twelve. Jared would be the first to admit he enjoyed the hard, perfect lines of the male body, but there was only one particular one he was interested in, one that had yet to make an appearance. Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe Jared had been wrong after all.

The first power chords of Alice Cooper’s _Poison_ began to pour out of the speakers. Strobe lights started to flash and Jared took another swig of his beer as another dancer slipped onto stage in between the flicker of light and shadow. Suddenly, the strobes faded and the stage lights came up and Jared’s beer bottle dropped to the table with a dull _thunk_ , forgotten, as he leaned forward in his seat, near on gaping.

_Holy fuck!_

It _was_ Jensen.

 _Your cruel device_  
_Your blood, like ice_  
_One look, could kill_  
_My pain, your thrill_

Jensen slithered across the stage in tight leather pants and a black t-shirt that was at least two sizes too small. Black combat boots were on his feet and a dark collar adorned his neck. Kohl ringed his eyes and his hair was spiked. Whatever hair product he’d used had darkened his dirty blond locks by several degrees.

 _I want to love you but I better not touch (don't touch)_  
_I want to hold you, but my senses tell me to stop_  
_I want to kiss you but I want it too much (too much)_  
_I want to taste you but your lips are venomous poison_  
_You're poison, running through my veins_  
_You're poison_  
_I don't want to break these chains_

Jensen, hips twisting and gyrating, moved like a master to the music. It was a slower beat than the song from last week, but that seemed to make the set that much more sensual. There was a pole in the middle of the stage; he wrapped his lean body around it like a lover and then spun, stopping with his back to the polished brass, arms raised above his head, hands gripping the pole. He slid down into a crouch, spreading his legs wide. Up, down, up, down, he pushed, thigh muscles clenching and releasing beneath skin tight leather.

 _Your mouth, so hot_  
_Your web, I'm caught_  
_Your skin, so wet_  
_Black lace, on sweat_

Jared shifted in his seat, palming at an instantly hard cock, and couldn’t help the small groan that escaped his lips as he watched.

 _I hear you calling and it's needles and pins (and pins)_  
_I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name_  
_Don't want to touch you but you're under my skin (deep in)_  
_I want to kiss you but your lips are venomous poison_  
_You're poison, running through my veins_  
_You're poison_  
_I don't want to break these chains_

_Poison…_

Jensen bounced back up to his feet and tore his shirt off in one swift move; he tossed it off to the side. Oil-slick skin shimmered under the bright stage lights and he slid his hands down his hard pectorals, fingers taunting peaked nipples. He kept going, letting them glide over well-defined abs and lower before he spun and dipped low. He fell into a crawl and slinked his way across the stage on all fours, muscles flexing and pulling under tanned flesh. When he reached the edge, he lifted his hips and slowly thrust against the floor causing the women directly in front of him to swoon.

 _One look, could kill_  
_My pain, your thrill_

Jared pressed his teeth into his lower lip because, damn, he was about to come in his pants like a fourteen year old.

 _I want to love you but I better not touch (don't touch)_  
_I want to hold you, but my senses tell me to stop_  
_I want to kiss you but I want it too much (too much)_  
_I want to taste you but your lips are venomous poison_  
_You're poison, running through my veins_  
_You're poison_  
_I don't want to break these chains_  
_Poison (Poi-son)_

Green eyes lifted up, then, and looked directly at Jared as if drawn to him by some unknown force.

Jared’s mouth dropped. _Oh, crap_ , he thought when Jensen’s movement stuttered for a split second and his brow creased into a frown. Jensen didn’t exactly look thrilled to see him there. The normally soft look in his eyes faded, quickly being replaced by something else. A whirl of emotions played out in the briefest of seconds: fear, hurt, anger, all of them mixed together… and then an emptiness Jared had never been witness to before. It was as if all the emotion had just bled out.

Suddenly, Jared felt as if he were intruding on something so very private, witnessing something he shouldn’t be seeing. _What had he done?_ He stood up from the table, nearly knocking his chair over in the process. He had to leave. He had to get out of there.

On stage, Jensen had been quick to pull himself back together. He pressed up from the floor and kept moving. Once he was mid-stage, his fingers slipped into the waistband of his pants. With a quick snap of the wrist, the leather was gone revealing long, muscular legs, a toned ass, and… _oh, god…_

Jared nearly bolted to the door.

He knew he’d just majorly fucked up. He wasn’t sure how exactly. He just had.

 _I want to love you but I better not touch (don't touch)_  
_I want to hold you, but my senses tell me to stop_  
_I want to kiss you but I want…_

The song continued to play at his back as he reached the stairwell. The cobalt-colored LED lights on the stair treads were hardly visible with the amount of people either heading upstairs or downstairs. Jared was caught up in the tide, unable to move fast enough.

Too many minutes later, he ducked past the doorman and ran down the sidewalk. It had started to rain while he’d been inside and there was a bitter chill in the air. Jared hardly noticed it as leaned back against the building and caught his breath.

He’d never considered what would happen if he was right about things.

 

~+~

 

Jared listened to the phone ringing on the other end of the line. He shivered and drew his jacket tighter around his body as he walked down some sidewalk to a street he didn’t know the name of.

“What?” a sleepy voice answered. “It’s… one-thirty in the morning.”

“I—I screwed up. I— _Fuck._ ” Jared’s voice cracked. “Danni…”

“Jared?” Danni seemed to wake up instantly upon hearing his voice.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called.” Jared was about to hang up the phone, but heard Danni calling out to him and stopped.

“Jared, wait. What’s going on? Where are you? Are you all right?”

“I—I went to the club. He saw me… Jensen saw me. He looked… And I… left.”

Jared knew he probably wasn’t making much sense with the way he was babbling. He couldn’t help it. He just kept thinking of how badly he’d probably screwed things up between himself and Jensen.

“Shit,” he heard Danni curse quietly over the line.

“And now I don’t know what to do. Danni, I—”

Jared turned and leaned back against the brick building he had come to a stop in front of when Danni had answered the phone. He ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair and gripped it tight. Cold rain continued to fall down onto his shoulders, but he hardly felt it anymore.

“Where are you?” Danni asked, cutting him off before he could keep going.

Jared looked up between wet bangs and eyed the nearest street sign. “Looks like East Street and Farwell. A few blocks from the club, I guess. Why?”

“I know where that is. Stay put. I’m coming to get you.”

“Dan—”

An impatient sigh cut him off. “Jared, it’s raining like hell out there and we’re not having this discussion over the phone. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Jared leaned his head back and stared up at the dark clouds above. He squinted against the falling rain drops.

“Yeah, okay.”

 

~+~

 

“You’re an idiot,” Danni said almost an hour later. “I meant for you to talk to him, not go all recon on him. That was Jensen’s business to share, not yours to go snooping around in.”

“It’s a public place, Danni,” Jared growled back. Between worrying and just being downright tired, Jared was starting to get snappy. Then there was also the fact that he’d put Danni in this position. It wasn’t a good place to be: between two friends. He really hadn’t thought all this out.

“You’re right. It is a public place—but you went back this time in order to snoop. That makes you an idiot. If you had just sat down and talked to him like a normal person instead of going all _I Spy_ like you did, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

She had a valid point.

Jared rubbed his hands over his face and groaned. He splayed his fingers and looked at his friend through them. “What do I do now?”

Danni sat back on her couch, crossing her legs beneath her, and adjusted the messy bun of hair on the top of her head. Without all the makeup, and being dressed in a loose-fitting t-shirt and flannel pants as she was, Danni looked years younger than the woman Jared was used to seeing almost every day.

“I can’t tell you what to do, Jay. That’s for you to figure out.” She sipped her coffee. “You know the real Jensen; he’s a whole hell of a lot different than that alter ego of his on that stage. All I can suggest is for you to go to him. _Talk_ to him.” She looked pointedly at Jared when she said the word talk. “Just be honest and let him know how you feel about everything. If I know Jensen, he’s probably afraid he’s going to lose you before he even has you. He loves the dancing—he’s a goddamned natural at it if you ask me—but stripping isn’t exactly a profession people tend to look favorably upon.”

“I would never think less of him for that,” Jared defended himself.

“But he doesn’t know that, does he? And god only knows what went through his head when you took off like you did.”

Jared didn’t even want to think about that.

“I’ll let you in on a little something,” Danni continued. “Jensen hasn’t been in a real relationship in years; he doesn’t let people in easily. But you… You’ve gotten to him, Jay. He really likes you.”

 

~+~

 

**_Saturday, November 2_ **

When he woke up the next morning, Jared threw an arm over his eyes warding off the blast of sunlight cutting across the room from the eastern-facing window in Danni’s living room and groaned. He’d ended up crashing on Danni’s couch last night since it had been almost 3:00am by the time they’d finished talking; Danni had insisted on it.

It took less than a minute for him to realize how late it was and that he should have been at work by now. He quickly sat up, but closed his eyes when a strong sense of vertigo hit him. He rubbed at his eyes before slowly opening them again, letting the world right itself once more.

“Danni?” he called out, voice scratchy with sleep.

Nothing but silence answered him back. He glanced down at the table in front of the couch and saw a mug of coffee sitting on an open notebook, a notebook in which he could see Danni’s neat handwriting scrawled across the top page. He set the mug aside and picked it up.

  

Jared grinned. “Thank you, Danni,” he said out loud to the empty room. He gulped down the cold and disgusting coffee she’d probably left out at quarter to five this morning for him and then pulled his shoes on.

The first thing he had to do was go home and take a shower. He didn’t exactly smell fresh and his mouth was fuzzy-feeling and just… yeah. Yuck. He needed a toothbrush and he didn’t think Danni would appreciate him using hers.

 

~+~

 

Jensen’s apartment was in a quiet neighborhood a few miles northwest of the college campus. It was a hell of a lot different than the one where Jared and Chad’s apartment was; that was for sure. Jared couldn’t imagine a college party happening on this street. Chad would hate it.

As Jared surveyed the area from under the shade of a tall oak tree that had yet to shed its leaves, a small group of school kids in sweatshirts and baseball caps rode by on their bikes. A dog barked somewhere. Jared checked the time on his watch. It was nearing 5:00pm. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Well, here goes nothin’.”

He shifted the bouquet of red and white roses from one arm to the other—the kind, old lady at the flower shop had picked them out since Jared had been fairly clueless about what to get—and tried not to drop the nondescript, brown paper bag that kept trying to slip from his fingers as he started walking. He’d had the cab drop him off a block from Jensen’s house, not wanting to be too obvious about showing up uninvited.

When he reached the driveway of 15 East Burlington, Jared saw an old Chevy pickup parked there as well as a small, blue Mazda 626 that was up on a jack stand with a tire missing. The truck seemed more like something Chris would drive which meant the Mazda was more than likely Jensen’s. Jared had never really noticed, but he hadn’t seen Jensen driving a car since they’d met. If it was Jensen’s, Jared wondered if it was just a case of a flat tire or something more terminal. There was one other car in the driveway: a pink Volkswagen Beetle. Jared assumed it belonged to the girl who lived downstairs; Jensen had only mentioned her once or twice, but from his description of her, she’d sounded like the type to own one, unapologetically unique and perky.

Jared saw an exterior staircase leading up to the second floor at the back of the house. After looking around and not seeing anyone, he headed toward it.

The wooden treads creaked under his sneakered feet as he took them one at a time. He really had no idea what he was going to say when he saw Jensen. Jared hoped Danni was right and a simple apology would suffice.

When he reached the landing—it was more of a porch with a few old, kitchen chairs, a small, metal and glass table, and a propane grill—Jared knocked on the door. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and butterflies danced mutinously in his stomach as he waited for the door to be answered. He counted the seconds away in his head. A full minute passed before he raised his hand to knock again. There was a chance Jensen and Chris weren’t home. Maybe they were out with—what was the other guy’s name? Steve?

Before his knuckles could make contact with the wood again, the door was opened. Jared jumped, startled. His nerves were damn near too frazzled for this.

“Hey,” he said with a friendly half smile when the door opened and he saw Chris standing there. The man was dressed in cowboy boots, old blue jeans, and a flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows exposing thick, muscular forearms.

Chris said nothing at first. He looked from Jared to the flowers in his hand, then back at Jared. He squared his shoulders and arched an eyebrow as if to say, _Flowers, seriously?_

“Something I can help you with?”

Great, Jared thought, Chris was Jensen’s own personal guard dog.

“I was, uh, looking for Jensen. Is he home?”

Chris crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the doorframe as Jared spoke, a veritable wall between himself and Jensen. There was probably half a foot’s difference in height between them, but even with that advantage, Jared still felt small and intimidated by the older man.

“Now, son, that all depends on what you’re doin’ here.”

Jared didn’t know Chris well, but he could sense that he was just looking out for Jensen. He pressed his teeth into his bottom lip and glanced off to the left, toward the neighbor’s house only two driveways’ distance away. When he looked back at Chris, Jared tried to keep his composure under the continued scrutiny.

“I just… I just wanted to tell him I’m sorry about last night.”

Chris didn’t move from his post. He continued to stare at Jared with penetrating, blue eyes.

“Chris, stop acting like a jackass and let him in for Christ’s sake,” Jensen’s voice came from inside. He sounded tired, worn out.

Jared immediately looked over Chris’ shoulder and into the apartment. Jensen was standing at the other end of the kitchen wearing track pants and a t-shirt, and his hair was ruffled as if he’d just woken up sometime in the last five minutes.

Chris turned to look at Jensen. “You’re sure about this, Jenny?”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Jensen answered flatly.

“Fine.” Chris reached over and Jared could hear a set of keys jingling as he plucked them off a rack on the wall. Chris turned back to him, keys in hand and very nearly poked Jared in the center of his chest with them. “You…,” he leaned forward and spoke into Jared’s ear, hot breath rasping against sensitive skin, “I like you. Fix this.”

Jared didn’t have a chance to reply before Chris sidled by him and jogged down the stairs. Jared watched him until he got into his truck and started it.

“Well, you gonna stand out there all day, or are you gonna come inside?”

There was something in Jensen’s tone that told Jared he’d closed a part of himself off again and it hurt. Jared stepped into the kitchen, flowers hanging down by his side; he reached back and swung the door shut behind him. Now that he was here, looking at Jensen, it suddenly seemed as if flowers, candy (even if it was gummie bears, which Jared knew Jensen had a secret fondness for), and an apology weren’t going to be enough.

“You want some coffee?” Jensen offered as he reached up and opened a cupboard. He was already taking two mugs down before Jared could answer.

“Yeah, uh, sure. I guess,” he replied as he carefully set the flowers and bag down onto the table. Jared didn’t know whether to continue standing or if he should take a seat. Jensen hadn’t actually invited him to sit down yet and it felt wrong to do so; Jared’s mama had taught him too well.

As Jared stood there not quite knowing what to do, his eyes landed on the pull of muscle under the wash-worn t-shirt Jensen was wearing and bits and pieces from last night’s performance flashed in his mind’s eye, unbidden. While Jensen started to pour the coffees, Jared’s gaze slowly fell to his ass, the track pants hanging loosely over it. He blinked trying to clear the images away and quickly looked up when Jensen started to turn around.

“Milk’s in the fridge; sugar’s on the table” was all Jensen said as he handed Jared an orange mug with the UT Austin logo on the side. A tingle went up Jared’s arm when Jensen’s fingers brushed against his own and he shivered. It had only been a couple days, but Jared already missed Jensen’s simple touches.

“Thanks. A little different, you serving me coffee and all,” he tried as he set the steaming mug down on the table beside the flowers, but the joke fell flat. Jensen’s lips didn’t even twitch. The tension was thick in the room and Jared had had just about all he could take of the raging elephant standing between them. “Look, I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine.” Jensen’s words were toneless, hollow.

Jared sighed in frustration. “Why does everyone say they’re fine when they’re so obviously not? You’re not fine. I’m not fine. _We’re_ not fine.” He carded his fingers through his hair, sure he was leaving a mess in their wake, but he didn’t care. “I know I screwed up, okay?”

Jared was on a roll now and there was no stopping him. He might as well get it all out and then see where they stood after the dust settled.

“Last night’s not the first time I saw you.” Dark eyes turned toward Jared at that, but he didn’t let it deter him. “Me and Chad, we were at the club last Friday. I was drunk off my ass—I don’t remember a whole hell of a lot. There was this guy on stage. He reminded me of you… and to be honest, I might have fantasized that it _was_ you. I didn’t know at the time about… you,” Jared gestured toward Jensen with a wave of his hand, “but then there was the glitter in your hair, the sunglasses, some other things…

“I—I just didn’t know how to ask you about it without it seeming weird. And then I was back there, at the club, and—I don’t know—I don’t think I was really expecting to be right… because you’re you. You’re _my_ Jensen from the coffee shop, the guy I was going to ask out—”

Jared’s rambling came to a screeching halt. He hadn’t meant to go that far with his admission, but apparently his mouth had a mind of its own. This so wasn’t how he’d planned to do this. _God, why couldn’t he ever say the right thing?_ The room around them was so quiet that you could hear the proverbial pin drop. Jared looked at Jensen. The expression on his face was unreadable.

“ _Was_ …,” Jensen finally said quietly, nodding his head. “And now you’re not. I get it.”

“What? Jen—”

“I watched you leave, Jared.” Jensen pushed away from the counter. “I really thought we had something between us, but it’s okay. I really do get it. So, just go—before you make this any more difficult. Please.” He sounded so… broken.

Danni’s words from last night came back to Jared then: _he’s probably afraid he’s going to lose you before he even has you._

From the way Jensen was acting, it was fairly obvious that he’d given up on them already. He’d built up a wall to make it hurt less—he’d probably started construction on it as soon as he’d seen Jared at the club last night now that Jared thought back on it—but it didn’t seem to be working, not from the way he looked, not from the way his voice shook. There was still time for Jared to make this better.

“No.” Jared strode across the kitchen until he came to a stop in front of Jensen; he pulled Jensen’s mug from his hands and set it on the counter behind him. “Jensen…” He closed the gap between them until their noses were just inches apart. Jensen took a step back, but the refrigerator blocked him from going any further.

Jensen started to push him away, but Jared held his ground. They needed to talk—or at least Jensen needed to hear what Jared had to say.

“No, I’m not leaving. You’re gonna let me tell you why I left. Then after, if you still want me to, I’ll go.”

Jensen’s hands fell away from Jared’s chest down to his sides. “Fine,” he conceded, not at all happy about it.

“Last night,” Jared started again, “I screwed up from every angle. I know that. I’ve never claimed to be perfect.”

Jensen remained silent, and Jared could see he was still tense—but he _was_ listening.

“You _know_ me, Jensen. You know I’m not gonna just go away. I’m not gonna just disappear. And I could _never_ hate you, especially not for doing something that you love.”

Jensen’s posture relaxed some and Jared hoped he was getting through to the other man. He crooked his finger and lifted Jensen’s head up. The brilliant green eyes that Jared had been smitten with since day one came up and met his own. They were glistening under the fluorescent glow of the kitchen lights.

“Jen, I only left because, god, the way you looked at me when you saw me, I was so scared that I might’ve ruined everything. You’re right, we do have something between us, and it’s special. I don’t ever want to lose that. So what if you dance?” Jared ran his thumb over Jensen’s cheekbone in a soft caress. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.” He paused, then quirked the corner of his lips. “Just don’t ever expect me to go up there. It wouldn’t be pretty. Two very big left feet here.”

The corner of Jensen’s mouth lifted, just slightly. That made Jared smile.

“Jared…”

Jared pressed two fingers to Jensen’s mouth to stifle his apology.

“Don’t. Consider this us admitting we both could’ve handled things a little differently.” Jensen’s tongue darted out wetting his lips and Jared inched closer to him, close enough that he could feel the heat building between their two bodies. “All I wanna do right now is— _Shit_ , can I… Jensen, can I kiss you?”

Jensen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes flittered down to Jared’s lips and then back up to his eyes.

“You’re sure?” Jensen asked, hesitation lacing his words. “You _do_ get that I _strip_ for a living. I take my clothes off—”

Jared’s smile grew. “And you’re beautiful up there, Jen.” He reached up and framed Jensen’s face between his large hands, fingers rasping over five o’clock shadow. “You could do it for the rest of your life and I wouldn’t care. As long as you’re mine. So, yes, I’m very sure.”

“Are the flowers for me?”

Jared laughed. “Yeah, those and the gourmet gummie bears from that little shop on Main.”

That caused Jensen to snort. “Then… yeah. You can—”

Jared tilted Jensen’s head back and leaned down. He pressed his lips to Jensen’s, cutting his words off, and sighed inwardly at how soft they truly were, just liked he’d always imagined they would be. He was falling, hard—no, scratch that. He’d already fallen.

Jared wondered if Danni would be happy with a pair of diamond earrings.

 

~ Fin ~

**Author's Note:**

> Please remember to leave comments. If you don't feel like leaving a comment and like the story even just a little, hit the Kudos button so I know you were here.
> 
> My email is in my profile if you'd prefer to reach out to me that way.
> 
>  
> 
> Credit on pictures:  
> "Title pic", "Jared in Coffee Shop", "Jensen in Coffee Shop", "Crossword Puzzle" are all by me (at least the creative aspects are).  
> "Stripper Jensen" is a crop from the original picture by Tasha Strawberry which can be found [here](http://tashastrawberry.deviantart.com/art/J2-Gothic-194727528).  
> "Kissing Js" belongs to Longways. (I was unable to find a direct link to the picture. Good ol' Facebook.)  
> "Jack & Jill" was cropped from [here](http://www.rosenberryrooms.com/144-jack-jill-went-up-the-hill-poster-wall-decal.html).


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